Santana

The legendary guitarist Carlos Santana (full name Carlos Augusto Alves Santana) was born in 1947 in Autlan de Navarro. Carlos has been familiar with music since the very childhood: the musician’s father violinist Jose Santana started teaching his son how to play the violin when Carlos was five years old. Later he took interest in guitar, inspired by the play of such legends as B.B. King, John Lee Hooker and T-Bone Walker. Santana was invited to the local band, where he got the priceless experience and impressed everyone by his original manner of play. Thereby Carlos’ signature sound included elements of various genres, from Latin music to rock’n’roll.

In late sixties the guitarist formed the band Blues Band, which name was changed to Santana two years later. Their creativity attracted listeners’ attention in no time: the music lovers enjoyed original and recognizable sound. Later at Woodstock Music and Art Festival in 1969 Santana performed the composition Soul Sacrifice and simply won the listeners hearts. The same year he released the self-titled debut album Santana (1969) that got the Platinum Status. The band was gaining popularity, and their album Abraxas (1970) that got the Fivefold Platinum status was the best proof of that. However, Carlos kept on exploring different styles and continued to experiment; thus he released the long play Caravanserai (1972), which demonstrated more jazz sound, then the guitarist’s previous works.

Carlos Santana’s talent was recognized all around the world, and his manner and style can be hardly mixed with someone else’s. The virtuosic play and wonderful arrangements create the unique atmosphere and moods, so Carlos’ live performances are extremely interesting: the concert improvisations can not be found in the studio works. The live sound lovers will be pleased by the album Moonflower (1977) that preserved the atmosphere of the artist’s show perfectly. In 1999 Santana released one of his best albums – Supernatural. That record turned out to be incredibly successful as well: in the USA Supernatural got the 15x Platinum Status, and that fact proved not only the highest level of that studio attempt, but also millions of listeners’ interest in Carlos’ creativity.

In spite of the long and fruitful career, the musician still has plenty of new ideas. Thus, in 2010 he released very strong and original album titled Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time, which included various artists’ compositions, such as Sunshine Of Your Love, Back In Black and Little Wing. Carlos performed these songs in his own signature style, and also invited numerous musicians to take part in the creation of the album. Among them were Chris Daughtry, Scott Weiland, Nas and many others. The list of songs and the very performance will please the rock music lovers, while the quality of the record is unquestionable. Carlos Santana released the amazing album that became a real gift to the fans, and its title definitely suits the content – it is truly the greatest guitar classics presented by the virtuosic guitarist.